The Magpies have been warned that nobody is above the hook after the shocking display in the capital
Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United struggled against West Ham
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Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has revealed he told his whole team that any one of them could have been taken off at half-time as they slumped to a desperate defeat against West Ham United.
In the end Howe hooked Anthony Gordon, Emil Krafth and £69million man Nick Woltemade before labelling the 3-1 defeat to the Hammers as 'poor' while also claiming his players they weren't at the races mentally.
In a measured Press conference in the bowels of the London Stadium, Howe admitted his team must accept criticism and ensure they put it right against Athletic Bilbao in midweek.
Howe said: "The dynamism wasn't there. The physicality and the energy were missing in our performance. The difficult thing to take from that is we rotated the team a lot in midweek for freshness in the players. That did not seem to be there.
"It is hugely frustrating for us. That was a poor performance. We try to be open and honest with how we play and we weren't ourselves today."
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When asked if his team are suffering from an away day hoodoo after reaching SEVEN months without an away victory in the Premier League Howe feels his team may suffering some psychological torment.
Howe said: "The numbers aren't good for us in terms of our away form so it would be foolish for me to dismiss that outright.
"We have a very good group of professionals who care deeply and want to do well. But certainly we have not replicated our home form away. We have not got the points we wanted away from home. Some of the performances were very good, we just didn't turn them into wins.
"Today was a dip in terms of performance. That was the worst we have played during that run of games. A period of reflection for us is important."
Explaining what went on at half-time as a host of changes were made, Howe said: "I was really disappointed with the first half. It started so well, we scored early. We let it slip away and the longer that went on the more frustrated I was with my performance.
"We were unrecognisable in certain aspects of our game. I made the change to try to bring some energy, different dynamics, different relationships on the pitch, I thought we were better in the second half, but not great and that is why we lost the game."
"I don't think it looked like a Newcastle team that we have seen in recent seasons. The body language, the collective spirit on the pitch, loads of little things weren't there. I don't think it was tactical or technical. It was a by-product of us not being where we wanted to be mentally.
"We have done a lot of work with the players but this is a difficult one to work out right now and try to learn from today. Hopefully it is a turning point we can use to our advantage."
And he also admitted he could have taken off any of his stars as West Ham celebrated their first home win of the campaign. Jacob Ramsey, Fabian Schar and William Osula replaced Gordon, Krafth and Woltemade, while there were more substitutions in the second period.
Howe said: "I could have taken anyone off. That is a reflection of where we were at that stage of the game.
"It is very rare for me to feel that way. I don't think I have since I have been Newcastle manager. I felt that the team needed shaking up at half-time, that's why I did what I did."